Between the Disney-Fox merger and multiple production delays, The New Mutants was an infamously troubled movie from the start. According to the film's director, Josh Boone, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience --and he wants to choose his next project "more wisely."
After years of delay, reshoots of the film were planned, though the merger stopped those dead in their tracks. The movie that made it to theaters is the same film that was shot three years ago at Fox. Boone reflected on that, telling Newsbeat, "We were just in a perplexing circumstance that most people don't have to deal with." He added, "I feel like we did it. But oh my God, there were a lot of bumps and bruises. You're holding on to it as it gets smaller and smaller and then eventually you're like, 'I can't believe we made this'."
Among Boone's early concerns was the film's budget. He explained, "Once you start to find what the movie is, the budget comes in hard, you start to realize you're gonna have to cut your dream of it in half." The director clarified, "Not in a bad way, just in a 'reality of Hollywood' way that any director who goes to make a movie eventually has to do. So even if someone's making a $200 million movie, I promise they needed $400 million."
"I'll choose my next project wisely," Boone concluded. He compared the making of The New Mutants to his work on the award-winning 2014 film, The Fault in Our Stars, which saw an early positive fan response. "That was blessed circumstances and this was like, the opposite."
The film being released in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic also caused a lot of frustration for the director. Boone said, "That we had just made that and a pandemic happened was already so weird." He continued, "And now we're releasing a movie about kids in quarantine? And I'm just like - I don't know - I'll choose the next project more wisely."
The New Mutants also stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage and Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes. After two years of delays, the film is in theaters now.